Today's News

The Roane County Beer Board refused to hear Roma L. Christopher’s application for a beer permit on Tuesday.
“Because you all think I’m opening up for Grover Norton,” Christopher told the board.
Norton, owner of the Grill & Pub, had his beer permit revoked for a year on Feb. 12. Christopher planned to operate from the same location, 2224 Harriman Hwy., under the name 27/61 Grill-N-Pub.
According to her application, Norton still owns the property.

The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration and a number of construction trade associations are participating in a statewide Caught In/Between Accidents Safety Stand Down today, Monday.

Participating employers will shut down their jobsites at 7 a.m. June 10 to discuss the prevention of caught/in between injuries.

By CINDY SIMPSONcsimpson@roanecounty.com
The reader begins tentatively, but as the story progresses, she gains confidence and the words flow easier.
Helping adults gain stronger reading skills is the focus of The Next Chapter Book Club, which began meeting in April at The Spot in Harriman.
Lisa Parker is using this as a chance to continue strengthening her mind after a stroke took its toll.

By CINDY SIMPSONcsimpson@roanecounty.com
Rockwood Vice Mayor Peggy Evans regularly makes requests to see financial records of the city.
She recently butted heads with others, including Rockwood attorney Greg Leffew, over disagreement on a Freedom of Information Act records request.
“I have been trying now for two or three years to get some information about some checks, and I have been told I cannot have them,” Evans said at a recent meeting.
The records are public, Leffew agreed.

By CINDY SIMPSONcsimpson@roanecounty.com
The Boston Marathon bombing has given Tara and Roane County Sheriff Jack Stockton a greater appreciation of each other.
They shared that appreciation when detailing their harrowing experience to the Harriman Rotary Club last week.
Tara Stockton was running the prestigious Boston Marathon in April while her husband was there for support.
Tara Stockton still remembers the creeping dread of not knowing where her husband was but realizing he was somewhere around the finish line.

Kingston officials plan to move to the new city hall building on June 20 and 21, with no disruptions of service.
The new city hall will be open for business on June 24.
The new city hall in Ladd Landing is in a former medical complex the city purchased last year.
There will still be a police presence at the old hall in the interim. A grand opening for the public is tentatively scheduled sometime in July.

By MIKE GIBSONnewsroom@roanecounty.com
Kingston officials are preparing for the first reading of a 2013-14 budget that seems to promise neither any big outlays nor any big new expenditures.
The draft is on Kingston City Council’s agenda for the regular monthly meeting on Tuesday.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in Kingston Community Center.
The proposed budget carries around $5.5 million in the general fund — close to the same in the water budget — and promises no new property taxes.